Only on the Hellmouth
by Appomattoxco
Summary: The Episode "The Wish" is resolved a bit differently and when the universe is restored to normal an unlikely relationship forms. Complete
1. Prologue:The Wish

Title: Only on the Hellmouth

Author: Appomattoxco

Rating:PG-13

Pairing Giles/Anya

Summary: The wish is resolved a little differently

A/N written for Buffyverse1000 community on LJ Wishverse!Giles/Anyaka later Giles/Anya. Thanks to Jane for the beta.

Prologue

He didn't shove her away and race to the dresser but he didn't roll over and fall asleep as she wanted him to do either. "Giles, no, please!" Anyanka moaned as Giles rose gracefully from the bed then bent to pick up one of his discarded shoes. "Don't destroy it!" If she was honest, she had to admit to feeling shocked; he was just a battle-weary Watcher; she had no idea that desperation could make a man so sexy or inventive. Her legs refused to hold her weight on the first attempt to stand and go after him, now she was the desperate one.

She decided it was worth lowering herself just a bit and allowed her eyes to fill with tears. It was the oldest trick in the book but it just might work with a white hat like Rupert Giles. She would keep her bargain but nothing said she couldn't try to get Giles to back out of it.

"Nice try, Anyanka, but we made a bargain," Giles said when she finally made it across the room. "Are you going to tell me I haven't fulfilled my end of it?"

"What if I said I loved you?" Anya asked, angry and instantly dry eyed.

"Unless you destroyed this yourself I would never believe you," Giles said, clearly not expecting her to do anything of the kind.

"Damn you. You won't remember a thing about this."

"I know that," Giles said, after a final, lingering kiss. It was her last act of vengeance that he would never know if it was love or perversity that drove her to take the shoe and be the one to crush the pendant under the heel.


	2. The Wish continued

Anya remained quiet and still even though it wasn't in her nature to be either, especially when she was trying to be angry. Giles was so deeply engrossed in the book he was studying that he hadn't noticed her enter the library. She reminded herself that no matter how nicely shaped he was, a Giles was the reason she'd lost her power.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Do you need help finding a book?" Giles asked, with a slight smile of apology.

This Giles seemed less desperate and a little softer around the edges than the one she knew. Studying him closely though she could see a patina of sadness; life had left its mark on this Giles too. Anya cleared her throat loudly, stiffened her spine and tried to banish the annoying sympathy she felt. She had a well practiced rant and the aggravating man had to smile in a way that didn't reach his eyes. When he took off his glasses she acted just like the stupid teenager she appeared to be and blurted out her first thought. "Your eyes are green."

"Yes, they have been for a while," Giles said and smiled a little wider.

"Here I was feeling all warm and soft and you're laughing at me? I'm not some little girl!" Anya practically growled. "I'm over 1100 years old and I'm mad at you, or at least I was until you smiled. It's just not fair."

Giles sighed and said to the universe in general. "Of course, nothing is ever simple or fair is it?" He didn't see any signs that the girl in front of him was about to drain away his life force or dismember him. Not knowing what else to do, he fell back on training that predated even what he learned from the Council; he pulled out a chair and handed the girl or whatever she was, his handkerchief. "Would a drink help?"

"God, yes, the strongest you have; I'm not in the mood to be picky."

"I was thinking of a glass of water or tea."

"In that case, no thank you," Anya said, disappointed.

"Do you think you're ready to tell me what this is all about?" Giles asked kindly when the girl seemed less distressed.

"My real name isn't Anya, it's Anyanka, I was a vengeance demon. My field was scorned women; I was up for employee of the century until my power center was destroyed and it's all your fault. A girl named Cordelia summoned me and everything was going well; the world where Buffy never came to Sunnydale was pretty much hell on earth, then you tried to take my pendant that was my power center. Anyway, when you weren't fast enough to get it, I decided to play a game. I said I would spend until sunrise sharing orgasms with you. I put the pendant on a dresser across the room and the first person to get up and reach it could do whatever he or she wanted with it."

Anya told him what happened during that night in more detail than Giles really wanted but she was sketchy on the facts of the morning after. She ended simply by saying that he had been the first to reach the pendant. When her tale was finished Giles sat back stunned. He just couldn't see himself making the sort of bargain Anya claimed his Alternate-self had made with her. It was too sordid and seemed egotistical. Anya had been very frank in telling him what had transpired; he couldn't sort out his feelings- embarrassment, fascination, perhaps a twisted hint of jealousy.

"He, the other you, was desperate," Anya concluded.

"Yes, well. What exactly did you come in here for?" Giles asked. He half expected her to say she wanted to try for two out of three. Recent candy related activity not withstanding he didn't know if he was up for the challenge. Even though part of him was saying that he could be with very little encouragement.

"My first thought was to find that redhead of yours. You know - Rowan? Fern?"

"You mean Willow?"

"Yes, that's her. I thought she could help me do a spell to get my power center back but I changed my mind. Kids that age almost always screw up the magics no matter how much natural talent they have."

Anya glared at the grin he tried to suppress and Giles shrugged. "You have to admit, you appear to be a 'kid that age' yourself."

"You don't believe I'm not?" Anya asked. She was ready to storm out of the library until Giles put his hand over hers. It was as big and warm as she remembered. "I was going to demand you help me get my amulet back. Then you were nice and gave me your hanky and offered tea." She sighed in resignation. "Oh, what's the use? D'Hoffryn will only be angry and take it away again if I get it back anyway."

"So, what is it you want now, Anya?" Whether she was 17 or 1100 the woman in front of him looked so lost he couldn't help reaching out to her.

She wanted to throw herself at him and demand that he make love to her. It would be nice, better than nice and he would feel tied to her. Anya hated being so adrift. Instead she asked for what she really needed and wasn't so sure she could get. "Do you think you could help me? I don't know how to do this, be human, anymore. I know it's ludicrous but could you be my friend?"

"Well, it's no more ridiculous than anything else that's happened since I've arrived in Sunnydale. I'll be here if you need me. Now, I think you need to go to your next class." He was smiling and cleaning his glasses when she left.


	3. The end of Amends

Anya overheard Willow talking to the Slayer about people who were alone becoming depressed during the holidays. What Willow said planted an ugly seed of worry. Earlier in the day she had stopped by the library and asked Giles what his plans were for the holidays. At the time she only asked because everyone was asking their friends that and Giles was as close to a friend as she had in Sunnydale. She didn't know then that 'nothing special, just relax and catch up on my reading, could be a cry for help or she would never have said that Santa was a letch with bad table manners.

Using her time in the computer lab to look up suicide rates would have raised a red flag in any other school, but people in Sunnydale never noticed anything. Even though what she knew of Giles told her he wasn't the type to give into despair, the statistics, when she looked them up, weren't reassuring. Giles was very sympathetic listener and a very nicely shaped man. She concluded that there was no other choice; she would have to brave the Christmas rush and go shopping.

"It's not supposed to be this cold there. This isn't a sign of impending doom or the start of a nuclear winter is it?" Anya asked, looking more annoyed than frightened. "It would be just my luck to become mortal right before the world ends."

"Surely, you can't be here because of the snow? It's only just started," Giles said taking her coat as she came in.

"Oh, I'm here to spend the winter holiday of your choice with you. What took you so long to open the door anyway?" she asked.

"I was standing by the window Anya; I answered the door on the second ring."

"I brought cookies," Anya said brightly, holding up the tin of biscuits. "The woman at the shop said they'd be good with tea. Fruitcake looks more festive but I got these because I actually like you. Even I know that nobody gives fruitcake to people that they like." An old favorite played on the radio and Anya asked, "You haven't been drinking, have you? My research shows that "White Christmas" and hard liquor should never be mixed in solitude." Giles grinned widely; this girl had a quick mind and a faster tongue.

"Then it's fortunate for me that you've come by." When he took the biscuit tin from her the room suddenly felt too close. "I'll just um, make some tea to go with these…You have a seat here," Giles stammered, grateful that Anya didn't follow him into the kitchen. Of all the people to show up at his door on Christmas it had to be her. He'd been recalling the things she had told him about the bet with his alternate. On the surface they should be at worst embarrassing, and at best an ego boost. Something Bond would like to brag about over a pint. Giles, Rupert Giles, I saved the world with my sexual prowess. The reality was that that Anya had replaced Jenny in his dreams; erotic dreams that shifted to nightmares of a world without hope. Maybe his impulsive decision to help Anya wasn't such a bad idea. The dreams had helped him to be more compassionate to Buffy today. Giles didn't think he would have come to Angel's aid otherwise.

"Do you have any games?" Anya asked, startling Giles.

"Games?" he repeated, a bit alarmed over what sort of games Anya might come up with.

"You know; like Life or Checkers."

Giles heard Buffy's voice in his head complaining that the surreal just kept getting surreal-er. "I have Scrabble," he said, resigned to the strangeness.

They ended up playing Watcher Academy style using demon names. It was enjoyable at first; he and Anya were pretty evenly matched. It would have been a pleasant night in spite of Giles' inner turmoil if he hadn't mentioned the events of his day and Angel's struggle with the First Evil.

"So the brooding and his prior rat eating are because of the curse, right?" Anya asked when he finished the story. She laid down an X on a triple word score. "I mean, I'm pretty sure I have a soul now and I have 900 more years of evil to feel bad for and I don't want to relocate to the nearest gutter."

"I can't build onto anything with what I have left. It looks like you've won," Giles said. Then he asked, "Don't you have any feelings of shame or regret?"

"Not at the moment; it's the English spelling, I've won fair and four cornered."

"It's 'fair and square' and you know I didn't mean about the game." A sick feeling grew inside him. He'd been thinking of Anya as human now but was she just a vengeance demon without power?

"You are beginning to sound pompous, Mr. Giles. I was doing my job."

"That's not an acceptable excuse even if it's been used countless times," Giles said.

"I was a demon then. My kind has been summoned by a few Slayers over the centuries. Who do you suppose could hurt a Slayer so badly? I'll give you a hint - they weren't hurt by anything it was their job to slay."

"How much worse off were they when you were through?" Giles accused.

"So, you've decided I'm not human enough for you because I'm not insane with regret. I. Don't. Do. Regret." Anya said each word softly but her anger was clear. "It's a waste of time and I don't have as much of that as I used to. Maybe it's not me with the defective soul. Why wasn't anyone else worried about you spending Christmas alone?"

Anya left the apartment with her back stiff and her fists clenched. Giles was going to simply let her leave when he realized she had gone out into the snow without her coat.

In most arguments there's a moment when the anger clears enough so that you can understand the hurt you've inflicted. Sometimes it takes a long time - in this case it was the moment Giles wrapped Anya's coat around her. Large wet flakes continued to drift down slowly, covering the courtyard in sparkling white and catching in Anya's chestnut hair. "You look like a fairy with the snow in your hair," Giles said.

"No, I don't; I look like the deer with the light bulb for a nose," Anya said with a sniff. "I guess I do regret after all because I'm sorry for the things I said. It feels terrible to hurt you."

"I owe you an apology too. You've asked me for help and offered your friendship. I shouldn't have implied you weren't worthy of either."

Anya said, "I'll never mention my past again. I don't want us to argue."

"We can't do that; our past shapes who we are. It's very likely we'll only find something else to argue over. Besides, you've given me a lot to think about tonight."

"Also I might have given you pneumonia. You walked out here to give me my coat without yours on, silly man!" Anya started to lead him back inside and said, "You know my past could be very useful in your work as a Watcher. I have a lot of inside information about demons and I might even still have contacts…"

Giles resisted the urge to quote Casablanca. He was fairly certain Rick never wanted to shut Louie up with a kiss anyway.


	4. AU Episode Mated Pairs Part 1

Title: Mated Pairs 1/2

Author: Appomattoxco

Rated: R for violence

Pairing: Anya/Giles

Summary: Sequel to "Only on the Hellmouth" Anya skips class and it's not the day off she was hoping for.

A/N beta'd by the wonderful Jane Davitt. This is a departure both from canon and the sort of things I usually write so feedback of all kinds would be cherished.

Anya peeked into the library; it looked like she wasn't the only one skipping class this period. Buffy and her friends were there already; she knew they'd all have to be introduced someday but her history teacher was enough to deal with today. Stupid woman thought the black plague was started by flea infested rats. Everyone knew that it was started when a woman wished her cheating husband would become a vermin covered hare or maybe she wished his hair was vermin covered? Either way, Mrs. Coats had no idea what she was talking about.

"What are you doing going in there?"

Anya's hand froze on the door, "I was going in to get a book, Mr. Snyder." Great, she thought. Speaking of unpleasant rodents…

"Who are you anyway? Another friend of the Summers girl?"

"I'm a transfer student and I've changed my mind about that book."

"Good. You're better off staying away from those people, not that I care what happens to you." He was frowning unattractively and seemed unhappy with the idea that she even existed.

"Oh, I'm going to be doing a lot of reading in the future. It's what school is for, right? I'm just not in the mood today," Anya said, with a bright, false smile. Then she put on a puzzled frown. "What's that mark on your forehead?" Snyder looked doubtful but rubbed a hand over his bald head anyway. "I'd wash it if I were you, it's not coming off." She must have been convincing because he hurried off, muttering about a meeting with somebody and rubbing his forehead.

Anya managed to make it out of the school itself and to the mall without incident. Her mood was greatly improved after the purchase of a lacy red bra and matching tap pants. The yeasty smell of the soft pretzels called her name and she gave in. It wasn't in the main food court but at the other side of the Sunnydale Mall. When she sat at a bench to eat, a young mother pulled up beside her with a small human in a very flimsy looking stroller. The poor thing had pictures of hopping yellow bunnies all over her top but was too young to understand their revolting twitchiness and was happily chewing her toes.

"Oh Emily,where did your shoe go?" The baby's sock was in her lap but the shoe was missing.

The woman didn't seem to expect her child to answer, so, in spite of her macabre taste in clothes, she appeared sane. Anya tried to reassure her. "Her toes are very tiny and pink; it's not at all off putting to see her put them in her mouth and as she's not really buying anything I don't think the 'no shoes no service' applies." The woman smiled and nodded but left in a hurry, presumably to look for, or replace, the missing shoes.

A little while later Anya was regretting the salty snack and the large diet cola she had drunk because of it. Public restrooms were disgusting but she urgently needed to pee. The walk down to the end of the long, dimly lit hall between the Radio Shack and toy store seemed like it took forever. The mother and child she'd seen earlier were a few paces ahead of her, so she sped up, not wanting to have to wait if only one stall had paper. The few weeks in high school had taught her something. She had worried needlessly as the baby just needed to be changed. When Anya washed her hands the baby was smiling widely and wearing pink teddy bears.

The mother and child left and when Anya joined them in the hall the hairs on the back of her neck prickled. She heard a strange sound but before she could place it there was the loud rumble of a hand cart rolling over the floor above. She found herself in as much of a hurry to leave as she was to get to the restroom in the first place but forced herself not to run. If nothing was there it would look silly; and more importantly if something or someone were there it might encourage a chase. She tried to walk confidently, on guard for anything that might come from the center of the mall or the doors on either side of the hall marked 'employees only'.

The danger came from above; two frog-like creatures who dropped from the ceiling with a sticky plop. They would have been laughable if one hadn't quickly taken a long dagger and slit the throat of the woman in front of her. Before Anya could get to it, the other demon bent down and his hideous jaw unhinged, allowing him to bite Emily's head off.

Anya turned and ran for the door to the toy store but the employee entrance was locked or stuck. If she tried to make it across the hall to the Radio Shack the demon would catch her for sure. She grabbed the fire extinguisher off the wall and sprayed it in the face of the nearest demon just as it looked up from its meal. The Radio Shack door pushed open. Gasping for breath, she stumbled over a box and got up again, not daring to look back for shoe she'd lost.

888

"Anya, dear Lord are you hurt?" Anya had been standing in the hall as Giles and Buffy had left the library Anya seemed dazed: one of her shoes was missing and she was shaking like a leaf.

"I was at the mall." Anya said, in a very small voice that alarmed Giles even more, as he led her back into the library.

"Was it a gang?" Buffy asked, unaware that Anya knew about the existence of vampires and was once a demon herself.

"No just two Glogo demons, probably a mated pair." Anya looked down at her feet, "I lost my shoe, just like Emily. … I used the fire extinguisher on the one that ate her; I don't think that killed it though. That's the last thing I remember, I'm not sure how I got here. Giles, I thought I'd never see you again." Then Anya pulled his head down to hers and kissed him like a lover reunited, sure and uncertain all at once. Giles returned her kiss and deepened it without thought of where they were or who might see them.

"Look, you've scarred me enough recently with this sort of thing."

Buffy's embarrassed voice brought Giles to his senses and he broke the kiss. Anya sighed and kept her arms around him, her ear pressed to his chest as if to gain comfort from the sound of his heartbeat.

"Isn't she a student? I realize there's been some kind of trauma but Snyder won't care and you could lose your job."

"Buffy, see if you can catch up with the others and get them back here; especially Faith. We have a problem on our hands." He tried to sound as in control as he could with his arms still full of trembling girl.


	5. Mated Pairs Part 2

Giles rubbed at the ache starting between his eyes. Buffy had brought Faith and the others back to the library. He had just finished introducing Anya and giving an edited version of his involvement with her. While Oz seemed typically unfazed Buffy, Willow and Xander appeared convinced that he had lost his mind. Xander in particular kept looking at Anya as if he were sure that she would transform any minute and strike him down. It didn't escape his notice that now that he was no longer holding Anya, Buffy had place herself between them and that Faith casually kept close to Xander. "Buffy, your concerns about appearances are valid but we have a more urgent matter to attend to than my personal life."

Anya took over and told her story ending with "Decide whether or not to slay me later; Glogo demons only eat young when they are in their mating cycle and I for one, like pink-toed little humans better than sticky-toed frog things with teeth."

"Glogos are frogs with teeth!" Willow said, gripping Oz's hand tightly and turning pale. "Buffy, Giles is an adult; if he wants to hold demon orgies again I say he should go for it." Willow's laugh at her own joke was a little thin. "The important thing is to slay those Glogos."

"Right," Buffy patted Willow on the back comfortingly. "So what's the plan? Stake out the mall? I'm not liking the idea of waiting around for them to attack another baby in order to slay these things."

"I don't see what choice we got, B. If mama demon is craving babies like they say it makes our job easy; we stake out the hunting grounds and get them before they get their next snack. It should be a snap," Faith said.

Giles disagreed. "Glogos are fast. I don't think you two could get to the female and her mate before the baby was dead."

"Maybe a decoy would work? One of us could hold a doll," Buffy asked giving Faith an inquiring look.

"Yeah, I'd look real convincing as a mommy." Faith rolled her eyes at the thought.

"I don't know about that." Xander spoke up "She looks a little Inca-ish to me. What do you think Willow? …Just around the eyes maybe?"

The glare she sent Xander's way Faith had clearly heard about Ampata. Giles had almost laughed when Faith moved away from Xander as if to say, be like that and you're on your own, "I doubt that a doll would deceive them anyway. They would be able to tell it wasn't warm blooded."

"Another fighter would help." Angel said as he separated himself from his place in the shadows. "I can concentrate on getting the prey out of there and you and Faith can get rid of the Glogos."

That Angel still thought of humans subconsciously as 'prey' put Giles on edge but a third person would be a great help. "Buffy..."

"Yeah?"

Be careful, he thought."Take crossbows, don't get close unless you can't help it and aim for the belly."

"Looks like we have a plan," Faith said. "Let's go."

"Call me when you're home, Buffy. I'll be at my flat." Giles saw a subtle change in Faith's eyes and the way she stood. It could be her putting on her 'game face' or disappointment over being excluded. The look Anya gave him suggested that she thought it was the later so he added, "You call or stop by too, Faith."

"Um, sure thing." Giles was rewarded with a bright smile "Let's go frog gigging guys."

Willow turned to Anya before leaving with Oz and surprised Giles by giving her a brief, awkward hug. "I think you were pretty brave and resourceful today."

"But I couldn't save anyone but myself?"

Oz said, "Sure you did."

"Every one that would have died after tonight." Willow finished Oz's thought before Anya or Giles could reply.

"Thank you, I don't really agree but could you tell Buffy that anyway, so she doesn't slay me?"

Willow said, "Just give Buffy some time she'll warm up to you. The ex- demon thing's a little off putting to a Slayer and she's a little protective of Giles."

"She thinks I'd hurt Giles! Why would she think that?"

Oz said. "Hurting guys was your gig."

"But that's silly, I wouldn't do that now even if could," Anya gave Giles an alarmed look.

"I know you wouldn't dear." Giles said.

"Buffy's not blind she'll get it." Oz said.

When Oz and Willow left Anya said to Giles, "Are you going to be all right tonight?"

"Shouldn't I be asking you that? You've been through a lot today."

"You're worried about Buffy though, you love her, and I could see it on your face when she left."

"It's not that kind of love."

"I know that, that's why I'm so concerned. You love her like a daughter and you want to protect her and it hurts you that you can't."

"I'd rather it wasn't true instead of keeping Buffy safe I have to hand her a sword and send her into the darkness. That's why the Council frowns on Watchers becoming too attached to their Slayers."

Anya was quite for a while apparently deep in thought. "I'm not sure the two are as opposite as you think. Isn't that what a parent does once a child is no longer weak and helpless? Inform and arm them the best they can, then send them out into the world to do the job they were meant to. I doubt that parents ever learn to like though."

"Do you realize you just made me feel better by telling me that it's acceptable to be miserable?" Giles marveled.

"No I didn't I just said it was all right to admit you care. Lying about it won't make you worry less. Will it?"

"For someone who just recently became human you're awfully perceptive." Giles was a little annoyed at just how perceptive she was being. He wasn't fond of laying his emotions out for all to see.

"I've been watching talk shows after school" Anya said, her face completely serious. "There is something I don't understand. Why did you let everyone think we were a couple when you regretted kissing me back right away?"

"I regretted getting carried away in public with a student. Whoever you were, that's who you are now and we need behave accordingly. I let Buffy and her friends think whatever they wanted because they could understand that I wasn't taking advantage of a child."

"It wasn't because they see you as asexual and you wanted to scar their young minds by proving them wrong?"

"…Merely icing on the cake."


End file.
